Out of the Shadows
by rain alchemist
Summary: What if Naruto was hurt and broken at a the age of four? What if one man made all the difference and could turn his world around?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey everybody! I couldn't help it! Another story has been begging me to write it. I'm actually in major writer's block on my other story. I know that stuff like this one has appeared all over the site but I'm hoping that nothing quite like this one has taken place. All my fans of my other story, Child of a Hokage, don't worry! I just have to get this idea out on paper. I haven't given up on it. I hope that this story will clear my mind of my writer's block. Just bare with me. Naruto in this story does not have the Kyuubi's healing powers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did Naruto would live a perfect life with no difficulties. Yeah right! Just look at my other story. This one will be no different.

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Out of the Shadows

Chapter 1

It was dim. The only light came from outside the containment cell. Inside the cell stood a young man and a small dirty bloody mess. The bloody mess was actually a young boy wearing nothing but rags and his once sunny blonde hair was now brown. The boy was so covered with dirt and filth that you would think he never ever had a bath. Of course that was wrong, he just hadn't bathed in a year and living in a cell where you're "trained" and beaten wouldn't help much either. The boy's name was Uzamaki Naruto.

He had been kidnapped a year ago from the orphanage he called home. He was being "trained" to be the ultimate weapon by the Kazeyin clan they said. Their real job was to keep him away from the villagers and if he messed up enough to just kill him. These were the orders given secretly by the Uchiha.

Unfortunately for Naruto, he had just messed up for the last time. The young Kazeyin had a look of pure evil on his face. He took out a lead pipe and hit Naruto in the shins. He heard a satisfying crack as Naruto landed against the wall with his left leg bent unnaturally. He hit Naruto in the shins again, this time breaking the other leg. Naruto was screaming in pain.

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As Naruto's screams started, a gray haired shinobi just happened to be walking by looking for something, or should I say someone. He heard the screams coming from the Kazeyin manor and he knew he had found it.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hey everyone! I'm sorry for the cliff. I really wasn't meaning to leave you like that. To answer some reviews, Naruto is at this moment four years old. He was kidnapped a couple of days after his third birthday. Now lets get to Chapter 2.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

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Chapter 2

The guards of the Kazeyin compound had been watching a gray-haired jounin walk by when they heard a scream from inside the compound. They watched as the jounin stopped looked at the compound and a look of worry crossed his face. Then he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

The guards did a double take. They then looked at each other before waving it off. He probably just had a meeting to get to or something. No way that look had anything to do with that scream.

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Deep in the compound just a couple corridors away from where the scream came, a gray-haired jounin appeared in a swirl of leaves. He slowly crept towards the source of the screams. With each step they grew louder and more full of pain. Kakashi could barely keep himself from running to the cell that they were coming from.

Before he knew, he was in front of the cell door. He could hear the distinct sound of kunai tearing through flesh and bone. He quietly opened the door. He without even making a sound crept in. The smell from the room almost made him vomit. Kakashi could tell that some unfortunate soul had lived in this room for a year and never left. Kakashi fought down the vomit and looked around.

The sight he found tore at his heart. There lying on the ground with two obvious broken legs was a young bloody lump of a boy. The boy had two kunai sticking out of his shoulders and another two kunai stuck in his arms right below his elbows. There was also a kunai sticking out of the right side of his stomach. The boy was crying and kept mumbling, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" There was also a man standing over the boy with one kunai in his hand. He was going down for the kill. Kakashi moved.

The blood from the man's neck drenched Kakashi's glove. The man fell on top of the boy and the sound of kunai meeting flesh and a muffled cry was the only sound. Kakashi quickly moved the man. The last kunai had struck the boy's chest. Luckily it was his right side though.

Kakashi bent over and examined the boy closer. The boy was still mumbling the same thing, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Kakashi gently picked up the boy being careful to not hurt him anymore.

"Shh. Naruto its okay. Your safe now," Kakashi tried to calm the boy, but the boy wouldn't be calmed. Kakashi realized this and quickly left for the hospital.

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A/N: I'm sorry it this is short again! I'll try to make the next chapter longer. Please review! Thanks!

Mel


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey everyone! I'm back for chapter 3! I'm hoping that this chapter will be longer then my first two! This story is actually ahead of my other story's reviews and response for the first two weeks. I'm very pleased!

I did the math and if Kakashi was 26 when Naruto was 12 then he was 14 when Naruto was born so in this fic Kakashi is 18.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

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Chapter 3

Kakashi was running from rooftop to rooftop carrying a bleeding, dirty Naruto. Naruto had been mumbling the entire time that he was sorry. With every new rooftop Naruto's mumbling got fainter and fainter. Finally Kakashi had to look down at the boy since he no longer heard anything. The boy had either fallen asleep or had passed out because of the pain or blood loss. Kakashi was going to stop to find out. He had to keep heading towards the hospital.

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Meanwhile, down on the city streets walked a bald man. Right after Kakashi jumped to the next rooftop, this man felt something wet land on the top of his head. He looked up and realized there wasn't a cloud in the sky. He looked back around and everyone was exclaiming that his head was bleeding. He quickly walked home and investigated himself in the mirror. He inspected his scalp to find wound. All that was found was the drop of blood right where he had felt the wetness.

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Closer to the hospital walked a little blonde girl of about four years old with her mother. She was a pretty little girl with blonde hair as white as possibly and a big forehead. She like the bald man felt something wet hit her head only a lot more then one drop. Her mother inexplicably hurried her back home and straight into the tub. Her mother used an entire bottle of shampoo to get the red blood out of her little girl's hair but could only get the red color to spread and then fade. Her little girl's hair would forever be a light pink color just like the flowers she was named after.

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Kakashi finally made it to hospital. He rushed right in and called for help. The nurses and doctors quickly rushed over. They took Naruto behind the doors telling Kakashi to stay out. Kakashi quickly called the Hokage and told him everything. The old man rushed over as fast as he could. Together they would wait.

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Two hours later a very tired looking doctor came out of the doors. He walked over to the two, "That boy is a lucky one. It took a lot of chakra for us to heal his wounds, but we did it. He will have to stay here for a while though. There seems to be a case of malnutrition." He turned towards Kakashi, "What exactly happened to him for him to be in that condition?"

Luckily for Kakashi, Sandaime stepped in, "Can we see him?"

"Of course! This way please, Sandaime-sama, Hatake-san." The doctor gestured them down a side hall. He took them to a small room with a bed a little to big for the boy. "He'll be here until I clear him to go back to the orphanage. It'll probably be at the end of this week."

"That is all. You may go now," Sandaime said.

The doctor left the room. They waited until they couldn't hear his footsteps any longer. Kakashi could no longer take the silence or what he had heard, "He can't go back to the orphanage! It was two weeks after his abduction until they even filed that he was missing!" exclaimed Kakashi.

"Then what do you have in mind?" the sly Sarutobi asked. "The boy has no family. The only ones that would even take the boy somewhere roaming outside the village. It would take too long to bring them here. So what do you suggest?"

"You heard my suggestion four years ago but wouldn't have it!" Kakashi said losing all of his patience and forgetting whom he was talking to. "You said that I might be his godfather, but I was to young to take the boy in! Now what do you think?"

"Let's wait and see how this experience has affected him. Then I'll make my decision." With though words the two waited for Naruto to wake up.

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Around two hours later…

Naruto groaned. He slowly opened his eyes to see a white ceiling and bright lights. He blinked. '_Where am I? The cell doesn't have any lights in it. What happened? Why am I on something soft? And comfortable?' _the boy wondered. He slowly looked around. He was in a room on a bed with to men watching him. One was old and in robes of red and white. The other was young with gray hair and a mask covering his entire face except an eye. He couldn't tell if it was right or left cause he was very bad with telling the difference.

"You're awake, Naruto-kun," the old man said. Naruto remembered that voice. It was the voice of the old man that came to visit him in the orphanage. Naruto liked that man. He was always kind and had time to play with Naruto, unlike anyone else that came there. Seeing the look of recognition on the boy's face, Sarutobi smiled.

"W-w-wh-h-ha-at-t a-a-ar-r-re-e yo-ou-u doi-in-ng h-he-e-er-r-re, S-s-san-d-diame-s-s-sam-ma?" the boy stuttered. Sarutobi's smile fell when he heard the boy stutter the entire question. Kakashi who had only heard the boy talk from a distance stiffened with shock. The experience was that bad.

Kakashi looked over at the Hokage, they exchange the same look that said he couldn't go back to the orphanage. "W-w-wh-he-e-er-re a-am I-i? Naruto asked sounding even more scared. "W-wh-hen a-am I-i g-goi-ing b-bac-ck t-th-ere?"

"You're never going back there again, Naruto-kun," Kakashi finally step forward and spoke. The boy cowered.

"Naruto-kun, this here is Hatake Kakashi-san. He's offered to adopt you." Sarutobi said. "You'll never have to go back to that cell or the orphanage."

The smile he expected to get from that never came. The boy just stayed in that cowed position shaking slightly. Why was he expecting a smile? The boy didn't even know Kakashi not to mention that the mask probably scared the boy more.

As if he had been thinking the same thought, Kakashi slowly got closer to boy, who started to shake more, and slowly lowered his mask to reveal…

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Two days later…

Sarutobi was expecting Kakashi to walk into his office any minute now. He was going to show him a house that he thought Kakashi should move into. The house had enough room for a growing boy, a training ground, and was actually the Uzumaki clan compound.

Kakashi slowly waltzed into the office with the now usual lazy air to him, but underneath that lazy attitude though was the panic that you could only get when the shock of being a little boy's guardian wore off. Kakashi hadn't even gotten him out of the hospital yet, and he was worrying about how good of a father figure he would be to the boy. Would he be as good as Arashi would have? Unfortunately, he and the world would never know the answer to that.

Sarutobi took Kakashi to the house of Kakashi's former and late sensei. They solemnly walked inside. Kakashi felt weird in the now deserted house, but he knew that this house was specially made to house the Uzumaki. This would be the perfect and only place to raise Naruto. End the end he would have to live in the house, the rooms, and the halls of his former sensei.

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A/N: Well it's longer and you now know more of what's happening! I couldn't resist the whole Sakura thing. Hehe! If anyone knows a better way to do stuttering p, please tell me and I'll change it. Review please!

Mel


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hey everyone! Time for chapter 4! I'm not going to tell you the results of the first poll. But you'll realize it by the end of this chapter. The poll of the pairings is…

NaruTema: 4

NaruHanabi: 2

NaruHina: 5

NaruSaku: 4

NaruIno: 2

NaruTen: 2

NejiTen: 1

ShikaTema: 2

ChojIno: 1

SasuSaku: 1

GaiAnko: 1

HinaKiba: 1

Vote for which ever one you want. This poll will be left open for one more chapter!

Now to give you more information on what you should notice in this chapter. You should of or might have seen the hint on who Naruto's dad was. In this chapter, you will get a more definite yes on that and find out which clan Naruto's mother was in. You will also find out why the Uchiha's were behind Naruto's captivity.

Disclaimer: Hey I found this on my answering machine the other day… here it is.

"Hey you reached Mel, except I'm not here right now. Please leave a message after the beep!" "Hey this is Kishimoto. I would just like to say that I own all rights to Naruto NOT rain alchemist! Thanks bye!"

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Chapter 4

Kakashi sat in Naruto's hospital room. It was late but he couldn't bear to leave the boy. '_Just one night. Then I can take him home. Just one night!'_ Those thoughts should've calmed him down and make him want to leave, but down in the depths of his gut he knew that something was wrong. He couldn't force himself to leave this boy's side, not now that it was so close.

The boy then moved. He started to curl himself up into a tightly formed ball, with his arms hugging his legs. It looked like the small boy was trying to protect himself from some unknown enemy. Kakashi though had seen the boy every night form that same pose, it actually meant that the boy had gone to dreamland. Seeing that pose made Kakashi realize he was being irrational. He would need his rest if he was going to be there for the boy tomorrow. So he left the hospital and headed to his new home, the home of his former sensei.

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Kakashi got to the hospital early the next day. He quietly walked into the boy's room and saw him in the same curled ball position as the night before. He hadn't even moved. Kakashi slowly reached forward and put a gentle hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Naruto time to wake up."

The boy instantly woke up and started to cower under Kakashi's hand. Kakashi took his hand away and smiled, though Naruto only saw his eye go into an upward v.

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Naruto and Kakashi were just walking out of the hospital, when the boy noticed all the people outside. He quickly hid behind Kakashi. Kakashi stopped walking and gently picked up Naruto and held him to his chest.

Naruto shyly looked out at the people as they walked by until he saw the Uchiha crest on the back of some man's shirt. As soon as he saw that he buried his face in Kakashi's vest trying hard not to be seen.

A couple minutes later…

Kakashi stopped walking in front of a gate. He looked down at the now almost asleep boy clutching on to his jounin vest. Kakashi gently shook the boy just enough to rouse him.

The boy opened his bleary eyes and looked up at the masked face of Kakashi. "Naruto, welcome to your new home!" Kakashi said. Naruto unsure of what to do slowly and cautiously started to look around. He saw a big gate with a weird spiral at the top. Kakashi removed one of his hands to open the big gate. What Naruto saw inside the gate was the coolest site the young boy had ever seen.

Inside was a big courtyard with three buildings surrounding it. The building straight ahead of them was huge. It had three stories and dozens upon dozens of windows. Behind these three buildings, Naruto could see a small forest area and fields and ponds, every type of terrain for training grounds. Naruto also saw more buildings only these weren't nearly as big as the main three.

Kakashi watched as Naruto's eyes got bigger and bigger. He just stood there until Naruto's eyes had quite having the growing affect. "Y-y-you l-l-li-ve h-here?" Naruto asked still in shock.

Kakashi nodded and said, "Now you do too, Naruto." With that said, Kakashi started heading to the house straight ahead of them. In that house Naruto would grow and learn the shinobi way.

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Kakashi walked into the house, mansion, and gently set Naruto on the ground. Though the outside looked extravagant, the inside of the mansion was just like any normal home. It had a comfortable vibe to it, not like the Uchiha's or the Hyuuga's that tried to show you how wealthy they really were. No the Uzumaki clan was actually very modest. Their homes would've made anyone feel comfortable in. Too bad Naruto had never been in any nice place like this, so he was automatically surprised and shocked.

"Your room is up these stairs and the first door on the right," Kakashi told him. "My room is at the end of the hall."

"W-w-whi-ch way i-is ri-g-ght?" stuttered the now confused boy.

Kakashi gently took Naruto's hand and motioned for him to follow him. "Let me show you." Kakashi slowly took Naruto up the stairs and turned what must have been right. He then opened a door and gently pushed Naruto in. "This is your room. Everything in here is yours. Have fun! Explore!" With that Kakashi left the boy to the wonderment of his room.

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A couple months later…

Kakashi had just started taking missions again after adopting Naruto. Their bond was still one of stay away I'm scared of you and the world. Or at least that was how Kakashi thought Naruto felt. Kakashi was still trying to figure out what to do now. How do you open up to a boy that is terrified of you?

These were Kakashi's thoughts as he walked towards the huge house on the Uzumaki manor. Kakashi right as Kakashi was about to step on the porch he got the feeling of foreboding. Kakashi threw away caution and quickly entered the house. He ran into the living room where he could sense an unknown chakra signature. The sight that met his eyes would've have led him back to the time in the cell not that long ago if it wasn't for his training.

What he saw was Naruto cowering in a corner, with bruises, some small cuts, and scraped up knees. Naruto was cowering from a man in black wearing a black mask. The man, unknown to both Naruto and Kakashi an Uchiha, was standing over Naruto ready for the final stroke when he started having second thoughts. '_I can't kill a child, even if he is the demon child himself. He's about the same age as my nephew.'_

Kakashi took the man's sudden hesitation as his chance to act. He quickly aimed and threw a kunai into the distracted man's arm. The man growled and turned around. When he saw Kakashi, he started making quick hand seals knowing that it was pointless to stick around; he then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi ran towards Naruto, who had closed his eyes tight for fear of the final strike. As Kakashi got closer, he noticed that the boy was shaking in fear. He knelt down next to Naruto and gently started to raise Naruto's chin.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes when he felt a hand slowly raise his chin. His fear filled eyes gazed into the worried eye of Kakashi. Now that he no longer had to worry, Kakashi's mind could bring up that sight of Naruto in the cell. To tell himself that that wasn't going on, Kakashi pulled Naruto into a tight embrace. Naruto was at first to shock to cower, then he realized the warmth of the embrace and tears started to fall as his small hands grabbed a hold of Kakashi's jounin vest.

They just sat there like that until Kakashi realized that Naruto had cuts and scrapes that needed attending. After that they spent the rest of the night together.

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One year later…

Kakashi was making breakfast (scary site!) and Naruto was starting to head downstairs. Kakashi was beginning to wonder how he was going to tell Naruto that he was going to start his ninja training and that he had personally selected a tutor for him. He knew that Naruto would freak out about having to have one more person, but Kakashi couldn't train Naruto and still do Anbu missions. He would find some way to make it up to him, eventually.

Naruto then arrived breaking Kakashi's thoughts. "What's for breakfast, Kakashi-san?" Naruto not stuttering around him was a fairly new development. Kakashi still had to check to see if this was the same boy he had adopted.

"The usual scrambled eggs and toast."

"Uhhh, can't you make anything besides that?"

"Truthfully?" Naruto nodded. "Nope! I've had people ask me how I've survived. I still don't know." Kakashi sets a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of Naruto and a plate in front of an empty seat. '_I have to tell him now. Itachi will be here in an hour.'_ Kakashi took a deep breath knowing that he was going to become an enemy of the boy in just a few moments, "Naruto-kun, we need to talk about your future."

"What about it?"

"Well, a month ago you told me you wanted to be a shinobi. So I started looking for a sensei for you."

"What? Why can't you train me?"

"You know I'm really busy right now, Naruto-kun. I wouldn't be able to give your training my full attention but this sensei I found you is probably just as strong as me even if he just became chuunin awhile back."

"Fine! Who is it?"

"His name is Uchiha Itachi." Kakashi noticed that Naruto flinched when he said Uchiha but just figured that he had had a bad run in with a member or members of the clan. Naruto would soon figure out that Itachi wasn't the same pompous arrogant jerk as the rest of the clan.

For the rest of breakfast, Kakashi tried to have a conversation with the now scared back to stuttering boy.

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One hour later…

Itachi showed up at the compound thinking that this place looked awfully familiar, kind of like he'd been there before. The boy gently shook himself from that thought as he headed to the main building. '_What was this kid's name again, Naruka, Narcissi? Doesn't matter. I'll soon find out.'_ With that thought Itachi knocked on the door of the house.

Kakashi soon answered and invited the young Uchiha in. Itachi's first impression of Naruto was, '_Why does this boy look like a blonde blue-eyed Uchiha?'_

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A/N: Haha! I'll be evil and leave ya here. I'm sorry about the late update but you guys wanted longer updates so here it is. There will be no update next week seeing as it is Homecoming at my school and I'm going to be very busy. I will leave you with an idea of what's going to be in the next chapter.

Next Time: Itachi looks into Naruto's background to find the shocking truth. Sasuke meets Naruto. Who is this lady that Kakashi is hanging out with? What? She's pregnant!


	5. Author's Note

A/N: I'm sorry for the long wait. With work, homecoming, and end of nine weeks, I've been too busy to write and I won't be able to write probably until after Christmas. I've decided due to votes to do a NarutoHarem containing Temari, Sakura, and Hinata, due to votes. Here are some other pair ideas…

NejiTen: 2

LeeTen: 0

ShikaIno: 0

ChoIno: 2

SasuIno: 1

SasuTen: 0

SasuKin: 0

I took out the GaiAnko pairing cause that just seemed weird. This poll will be open until next chapter so vote now! Another poll is the team sensei. I don't want Kakashi or Itachi being their sensei. So the chooses are…

Gai

Anko

Asuma

Ibiki

Those are the choices. So sorry for the wait but it can't be helped.

Updated on December 5, 2006 

Well here are the reasons why I can't update until after Christmas. I have the End of Semester coming up, all my Christmas shopping still to do, and I have to bake and decorate with me mom for our annual Open House. So I won't have time to write a good chapter until after Christmas. I'll try to update before January 7.

Right now it looks like either Anko or Ibiki so Gai and Asuma fans vote. Oh yeah! I took Kurenai off the list. She will have a different role to play in this story. Oh and for those of you that think NaruHina is done way to often and don't like the pairing, don't complain to me. It was all the votes. If you go and count the votes posted before November 20th you'll see that those were the top three votes and the others weren't close enough.


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